Quinoa Fritters with Eggplant, Kale, Zucchini and Mushrooms

I had ground up some quinoa to stock up on quinoa meal, about fine corn meal consistency, to make vegetable porridge. And used some of it to make these griddle cake-like fritters loaded with veggies.

Of course, the outsides got a bit too well done on the cast iron skillet, but, the insides were moist and cooked; the taste was just fine, so we enjoyed it with some chutneys.

1. Finely grate eggplant and zucchini, squeeze out excess water and keep handy
2. Finely mince kale, onions, and mushrooms
3. Add seasoning to taste
4. Fold in the quinoa flour or meal, adding a little water as needed to make the batter about pancake consistency; alternately, keep water to a minimum to shape into patties
5. Cook on a medium hot cast iron skillet
6. Serve with tomato chutney and coriander-mint chutney

Bitter Gourd Scallion Cutlets with Cilantro Kale Pumpkin Seed Pesto

Cold, wet winter days are here. Soups, dampers, casseroles, cutlets, fritters, fresh off the oven or pan, seem to be the remedy to beat the chill.

Salting and sweating the bitter melon, then sautéing the finely chopped bitter melons until well done and slightly mushy, helped remove much of the bitterness for these savory cutlets. Optionally, mash in cooked potatoes, carrots, peas to mask the bitterness.

Cooking on a hot cast iron skillet crisped up the outsides a bit more than I was aiming for, but, it turned out just fine anyway.

I went with raw green pumpkin seeds this time, but, toasted pumpkin seeds work just as well for the pesto. A combination of Cilantro, Kale, Parsley makes a fantastic pesto.


Bitter Gourd Cutlets/Patties
½ large bitter melon, salted, drained, rinsed and chopped finely
¼ red onions finely diced
1 jalapeño or serrano chili diced finely
spring onions chopped
¼ cup chickpea flour
¼ cup rice flour
¼ cup buckwheat flour
¼ cup cream of wheat
¼ cup quick cooking oats
a few teaspoons of water as needed to make dough
salt to taste

Preparation

1. Finely chop the salted, drained, rinsed bitter melon, chili, and red onions
2. Heat oil in a pan and sauté the veggies till cooked through and a bit mushy, adding a bit of water as needed
3. Off heat, stir in the flours, cream of wheat, oats, salt to make a dough that can be shaped into patties, adding a bit of water if needed
4. Heat a few teaspoons of oil in a cast iron skillet to medium high heat
5. Cook the cutlets/patties till cooked through on the inside
6. Serve warm with Cilantro Kale Pumpkin Seed Pesto

Cilantro Kale Pumpkin Seed Pesto
½ cup chopped packed cilantro
½ cup finely chopped kale
¼ cup raw pumpkin seeds
2 Tbsp roasted sunflower seeds
1 jalapeño, chopped
salt to taste
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1 Tbsp lemon juice (adjust to taste)

Combine the ingredients and grind to a fine paste. Adjust salt to taste.

Buckwheat Oat Chickpea Flax Pancake with Collard Greens, Asparagus, Leeks

Growing up with an array of dosai made from the traditional rice and urad dal, as well as chickpea and sooji and anything else my mom felt like throwing together for an amazing experimental dish, I love quick pan fritters and pancakes and pan breads for a weeknight meal, along with vegetable curries and chutneys.

This time, I went with a combination of quarter cup each of buckwheat flour, chickpea flour, rice flour, oat flour, flax meal, and fine cream of wheat (sooji). To boost it a bit, I also added some cooked brown lentils leftover from making Mesir Wat.

For the vegetable side, wilted collard greens with leeks, zucchini, yellow squash, and asparagus  turned out perfect.

Ingredients:
¼ cup each of:
buckwheat flour
oat flour
rice flour
chickpea flour
cream of wheat
flax meal
¼ cup cooked seasoned brown lentils
¼ cup finely chopped radish greens or beet greens
¼ cup finely diced onions
salt to taste
water as needed to make a thick batter

oil for pan-cooking

Preparation

1. Combine the dry ingredients, mix well; add a little water at a time stirring gently to make a thick pancake-like batter
2. Heat a seasoned cast iron skillet to medium, and cook like pancakes
3. Serve warm with any favorite chutney or the Wilted Collard Greens-Leeks-Asparagus side

Wilted Collard Greens Leeks Asparagus Zucchini Yellow Squash 

Since there is no rigid combination here, use as much or as little of each of the above, chopped or sliced to desired size/length. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and wilt the collard greens; then add the other vegetables and saute till desired doneness. Season to taste.

Quinoa Scallions Fenugreek Feta Fritters

For a while now, fritters, griddle cakes, and unleavened pan breads seem to be taking over my kitchen. Anything is fair game as long as I can make a batter and cook it on the pan quickly. A nice big vegetable side, plus a few of these small fritters or pancakes seem to be a popular dinner meal with all but the youngest in the house.

Ingredients
1 cup cooked quinoa
¼ cup buttermilk
¼ cup crumbled feta
¼ cup finely chopped scallions
1 Tbsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos
2 eggs
2 Tbsp flax meal
2 mint leaves minced
2 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp dried fenugreek leaves (available at most Indian stores)

3 Tbsp finely diced onions (optional)

oil for griddle cooking

Preparation

1. Combine the ingredients and mix well to form a thick batter
2. Heat a well-seasoned cast iron skillet to medium, with a light drizzling of oil
3. Drop a dollop of the batter, flatten a bit, allow to cook till browned; flip and brown the other side
4. Serve warm with Mint-Cilantro Chutney

Mint-Cilantro Chutney:
10 mint leaves, finely chopped
½ cup chopped cilantro
1 small serrano chili, chopped (optional, adjust to taste)
1 Tbsp Tahini paste
¼ teaspoon tamarind paste
¼ teaspoon agave nectar

Combine the ingredients in a blender, and process to a fine paste, adding water if needed for the chutney consistency.

Chicken in Piquant Sauce with Savory Corn Cakes

It seems like I've been defaulting to salads and simple sandwiches lately. The stormy freezing weather last weekend spurred me to make something warm and substantial for the nicer half and the kids.

The sauce piquant for the chicken is not really hot as I cut back on the chilies and peppers so kids can try some without complaining.

The corn cakes almost tasted like corn fritters even though they are not deep fried. The rice flour gives it the crisp crunch.

Steamed green beans and carrots rounded out this simple meal.

Ingredients
Boneless skinless chicken breasts, marinated in red wine vinegar

For Savory Corn Cakes:
1/3 cup rice flour
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup fine cornmeal
2/3 to ¾ cup water, as needed
1 tsp Cajun seasoning (or any other favorite spice mix, check label for salt)
1/3 cup steamed sweet corn kernels
a few tablespoon vegetable oil for pan frying


For the Piquant Sauce:
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
red and green bell pepper, sliced thin, as much as preferred
1/3 cup sweet corn kernels (optional)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 cup stewed crushed tomatoes
1 tsp dry crushed oregano
1 tsp dry crushed thyme
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper powder (more if preferred)
salt to taste
1 Tbsp Canola or vegetable oil
1 cup water

Preparation

1. Corn Fritters: Combine the ingredients to form a slightly thick batter. Heat some oil in a pan or skillet, add spoonfuls of batter and flatten it out; allow to cook till brown around the edges, flip and cook the other side till desired brownness
2. Piquant Sauce:heat the oil in a pan, sauté the onion and bell peppers, add the tomato paste and allow to cook a bit till rich and darkish red; add the rest of the sauce ingredients, simmer till sauce thickens
3. Chicken:Heat some oil in a grill pan and brown the chicken pieces and cook part way; then drop them into the simmering sauce to finish cooking

Gobi (Cauliflower) Manchurian

This is one of my favorite Indo-Chinese adaptations. The dish is usually prepared fairly dry, with just a coating of sauce tossed together right before serving to prevent sogginess.

The recipe here is sort of made-up, so, adjust to taste as you like. And, usually, I vary the proportions a bit each time to see if it can get any better, and also because I may not have all the ingredients handy, so I improvise. I happen to like all the variations I have made so far. But, this recipe is fairly standard when I make Gobi Manchurian and thought I'll share it here.

Ingredients
1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
1 cup rice flour
salt to taste
1 cup oil for shallow frying

for the sauce:
2-3 green chilies, sliced thin
1 medium onion sliced thin
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced
2 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2-3 Tbsp plain white vinegar
2 Tbsp sambal oelek
¼ cup water
corn starch as needed for thickening

Preparation

par-cook the cauliflower florets in the microwave, pat dry, sprinkle some salt and keep handy

heat oil in a medium shallow pan for shallow frying the cauliflower florets

add some salt to the rice flour, dredge the cauliflower florets with the flour and shallow fry in batches till golden brown on the outside; remove with slotted spoon and place in a paper-towel lined plate

sauce: heat a few tablespoon of oil in a large sauce pan, sauté the onions and garlic, add the bell peppers, then all the sauce ingredients and let them simmer till flavors combine and sauce thickens

combine the shallow-fried cauliflower with the sauce, stir well, garnish with some slit chilies

Serve hot with hot rice.

Pakoda: chickpea onion fritters

Pakodas (aka pakoras) is one of my favorite tea time snacks, along with some home-made mint chutney, sweet-and-sour tomato chutney or tamarind-date chutney. Pakoras can be used in kadhi, a gujarathi dish.

There are quite a few variations of this recipe and am sure all of them turn out fine... this here is just one of the versions I default to. Adjust the proportions of rice flour to chickpea flour to suit your taste. Also, I've tried making these fritters with all-purpose flour and some cornstarch plus maybe some rice flour... it is quite flexible and depending on how crunchy or how soft I want it, I adjust the flour. So, this recipe is not quite set in stone - as with all my recipes ;)

Ingredients
1 cup chickpea flour (besan)
½ cup rice flour
1 medium onion finely diced
1-2 Tbsp red chili powder (more or less, adjust to taste)
salt to taste
water as needed
vegetable or canola oil for frying

Preparation

1. heat oil in a pan for frying
2. meanwhile, add the chickpea flour, rice flour, onions, chili powder and salt to a mixing bowl
3. add water a little at a time and knead to form a slightly loose dough, but not watery or runny
4. when oil is about 350-370° F, fry the dough in batches: without crowding the pan drop about 5-8 tablespoonful of dough in the oil, one tablespoonful at a time, and fry till they are nice and brown on the outside and cooked through on the inside.
5. drain on a paper towel and keep warm till all the pakodas are done
6. experiment with the chickpea-rice flour ratio till you find a satisfactory mix: i like the pakodas a bit crunchy on the outside and a little chewy on the inside - the crunchiness i believe comes from rice flour.